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Workers around the state say their employers aren't doing enough to protect them from the coronavirus pandemic.

That includes sanitation workers in Raleigh who are demanding that the city do more to protect them following the death of a colleague from COVID-19.

The worst-case scenario for COVID-19 is that hospitals become overwhelmed with patients. If too many people become seriously ill too fast, there won't be enough ICU beds and ventilators for everyone who needs them, public health officials nationwide are warning, which could cause many more deaths from the virus.

Gov. Roy Cooper and members of the North Carolina Coronavirus Task Force will hold a briefing on COVID-19 updates. Watch live here starting at 4 p.m.

The North Carolina Republican Party's state convention is being delayed by three weeks due to the new coronavirus emergency.

Groups that represent hospitals and doctors are pushing for Governor Roy Cooper to order a shelter-in-place.

But the North Carolina Chamber has said such an order should be a "last-ditch resort." And industries like real estate and construction want the governor to consider them essential during the coronavirus pandemic and allow them to keep running.

Duke Health is now using recycled N-95 masks in its three hospitals amid a critical shortage prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The masks are being decontaminated through a process that was already being used to clean other medical equipment.

State health officials say North Carolina's hospitals are trying to manage bed capacity as states like New York and California see a surge of patients with COVID-19. 

State health Director Dr. Betsy Tilson said she's heard from about 75% of the 130 hospitals in North Carolina. Tilson says about half of their inpatient beds are available, and less than 20 percent of their Intensive Care Unit beds are open.

Wake County is now North Carolina's largest county, the U.S. Census Bureau said on Thursday as its annual population estimates show the county containing Raleigh surpassing Mecklenburg County.

The census said Wake County had an estimated 1,111,761 people as of July 1, with Mecklenburg close behind at 1,110,356. The July 2018 estimates by the census had Mecklenburg ahead of Wake by roughly 2,500 people.

North Carolina's capital county on Thursday added another 1.1 million state residents to those now or soon under stay-at-home orders to dampen the coronavirus spread, which state officials say has contributed to another death.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having broad financial consequences, and college students are not immune to the effects.

The latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show North Carolina lags behind most states in the percentage of residents who have been counted.

State legislators have gathered remotely this week as they consider ways to help North Carolinians affected by the coronavirus crisis. The first tele-meeting was held Wednesday, as lawmakers convened for the first time – from a distance – in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Advocacy groups that lobby for the well-being of young children have written a letter to Governor Roy Cooper and N.C. Health and Human Services Director Mandy Cohen urging them to close all child care facilities.

Leaders of N.C. Early Education Coalition, NC Child, and N.C. Association for the Education of Young Children say that forcing employees of day-care facilities to work puts the health of kids, their families, and the workers themselves at risk.

A North Carolina appeals court on Tuesday rejected a request by Republican lawmakers for its full cadre of judges to rehear a challenge over implementing voter photo identification.

The Court of Appeals denied the motion by the GOP legislative leaders. The lawmakers had asked that the entire court rehear questions considered by three of the court's 15 judges in a lawsuit challenging the state's December 2018 voter ID law.

North Carolina reported its first two COVID-19 deaths Wednesday as local governments ordered their residents to stay at home to slow the spread of the virus.

Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement saying the coronavirus-related deaths were a person from Cabarrus County and another person from Virginia who was traveling through the state. The Cabarrus County patient was over age 70 with underlying conditions, while the Virginia patient was over 60, according to the release, which did not include further details about them.

The Duke Lemur Center announced not one, but two new births of the endangered species.

The infants were born January 21 and January 22 and are growing strong, according to the center. The babies were named Terence, pictured above, and Didius, pictured below.

Gov. Roy Cooper and members of the North Carolina Coronavirus Task Force will hold a briefing on COVID-19 updates. Watch live here starting at 2 p.m.

Hospitals across North Carolina don't have a large amount of excess capacity to handle what they expect will be an onslaught of COVID-19 patients in the coming few weeks.

Even as they postpone elective surgeries, set up outdoor triage tents, and ramp up staffing levels, there's a concern that coronavirus patients will overwhelm the health care system.

While colleges and universities across North Carolina move classes online, administrators are also dealing with the complications that come with reducing on-campus operations.